Deconstructing the Machine: Behind the Art of ‘Ex Machina’

Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris's award-winning super powered political epic "Ex Machina" comes to an end this week after a run of 50 issues and a handful of specials. In celebration, comics retailer James Sime of Isotope in San Francisco released an online version of a special edition "Ex Machine" DVD that shows off all of the process trivia, background information, and rough sketches you can handle. Here's the info, in Sime's own words:

Teaming up with Darren and Michelle Murata, co-founders of San Francisco's Comrade a celebrated Technology Think Tank & Digital Design Agency, we made something truly beautiful. Packed with pages upon pages of Brian's never before seen scripts and Tony's production artwork from start to finish, this Deconstructing the Machine disc took viewers on a personal tour behind the wizard's curtain in a way nothing else ever had before. And we gave them away for free to each and every person who attended our event. And also to 100 lucky fans across the nation.

Tony Harris's art on "Ex Machina" alone is worthy of further study. The backmatter in the first collection showed how he used photo reference and other techniques in his art, but didn't go into detail. For the first time, you can really examine how Harris constructs a page, the exact way that he uses photo ref, and even how the comic changes from script to colors. Needless to say, I'm a complete sucker for behind the scenes stuff like this.